


It's Super Effective!

by Jaceladag



Category: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Video Game), The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28352670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaceladag/pseuds/Jaceladag
Summary: Revali talks shit, gets hit (by lightning) and learns the valuable lesson of not underestimating his fellow champions even if by all accounts it seems like they were given their position by virtue of their birth and/or status.
Relationships: Revali & Urbosa (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 49





	It's Super Effective!

Revali sat atop a stool in the hallway just outside Princess Zelda’s room, tapping his talons as he watched at the door. The navy blue Rito was sat just in between two other champions, all of them lined up in order for the princess to take their measurements for their ceremonial champion garments. In front of him and next in the queue, the Zora champion sat with an unimpeachable upright position and her hands folded on her lap, perfectly in line with protocol. Behind him was the Goron champion, currently chewing on a bag of boulders as if they were chips, making loud cracking noises.

Revali had yet to introduce himself to the two, he was never one for formalities and most of his stay in the castle so far had consisted of formulaically racing through introductions with Hylian nobles and secluding himself in the room he’d been assigned whenever he wasn’t at the castle’s archery range. Now might be as good as time as any to catch up, it’s not like he expected the Gerudo champion exiting anytime soon.

After he lightly tapped her on the shoulder, the Zora champion jumped up a bit on her seat. “I don’t recall us having ever had a proper introduction to each other,” he said as he saw her turn around, trying to regain her regal posture. For a Zora she was quite short, shorter even than him, Revali noticed. Was that perhaps how she came to be a champion? Did it give her an edge in the agility department? “I’m Revali, pride of the Rito, expert archer, and master of the updraft and you are…?”

“Pleasure to meet you, Revali. I’m Princess Mipha, of Zora’s Domain,” the Zora said as she extended her hand in greeting, ready for Revali to kiss it in accordance with protocol, however that worked with a beak. “I’ve heard so much about you from your dedication to your craft to...”

Revali gave a click with his beak, his face contorting into a grimace. Upon hearing the word ‘princess’, he tuned out all else, even the words of praise Mipha had for him. Leaving her hanging with her hand extended towards him, he kind of dismissed her with vague non-committal noises as he thought about how stupid Hylians were to give this job out on the basis of birthright. As soon as he detected a pause, he instead turned to the other champion. “Goron champion, I don’t think we’ve had the time to get acquainted, now have we?” he said, pulling the Goron’s attention away from the unorthodox snacks.

“Hey, bird dude!” the Goron enthusiastically said as he passed him his bag with pebbles, which Revali rejected by pushing them back and giving a wordless shake of his head. “I thought you were gonna stay cooped up in that room of yours. Nice to see you get out of your shell.”

That pun got a small giggle out of Revali, what an oddity to find someone so cultured outside the Rito tribe. “What can I say, I just had to get out and crow, didn’t I? The name’s Revali and not only am I a prodigious archer but I also discovered a technique that allows me to create updrafts. I call it Revali’s Gale.”

“Aw, jeez, I didn’t know we had to come up with names for our powers. It’s a thing I’ve been able to do since birth so I never thought it special enough to give it a name,” Daruk said as he looked around the room, looking for inspiration. “What do you think about… Daruk’s… Daruk’s…”

Revali gave another click with his beak as he gave Daruk the same expression he had given Mipha. With his face now turned to the hallway itself instead of either champion, he found himself between Mipha’s chastising which began the moment he turned away from Daruk and Daruk’s endless droning as he tried to come up with a name for his power. When the door opened, Mipha was instructed by one of the handmaids to get in and the Gerudo champion exited, taking her seat in front of Revali.

Knowing what qualifications he would expect by now, the Rito went for a blunt, “Who are you?” At this point his voice had turned to a more shrill tone, matching his growing annoyance at his teammates.

“That’s Lady Urbosa, Chief of the Gerudo, for you, oversized talking cucco,” she replied, not giving him the courtesy of even turning around to talk to him. “Your boasting could be heard all over Hyrule Castle. If only what you had in humility what you claim to have in skill…”

And there it was, another champion by birthright. Or at the very least a political appointment. Revali didn’t exactly know or really care how the Gerudo chief was chosen but all these other champions didn’t exactly point him to the conclusion that anyone aside from him had any actual merit on the battlefield. “At the very least I can say I got here by my own hard work. Unlike you lot, the Rito tribe isn’t led by asinine notions such as birthright or prophecy.”

With a swift motion, Urbosa unsheathed her scimitar and turned, pointing it right at Revali’s chest before his eyes could process what was happening. “I suggest you apologize for and take that back immediately. To imply we as champions didn’t get here by our own merit is a grave insult to us all. Not to mention an insult on the good judgement of the king and the princess.”

“I’m not retracting a true statement,” Revali replied with a scoff. “How about you prove it was a matter of merit first?”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Urbosa said, putting her scimitar away from Revali’s chest and standing up. With Revali following, she headed towards the nearest courtyard. Even if she seemed like she had plenty of muscle and definition, Revali found the notion she was a competent fighter ridiculous. I mean just look at those high heels. Was she really going to wear those during their duel? Surely he wasn’t even going to need bomb arrows for this one. He only had three left anyway, better save them for something worthy.

As they walked into the courtyard, the few nobles and Sheikah researchers that were roaming the hallways fell dead silent, the powerful rhythmic stomps of Urbosa’s heels being enough indication there was something going down. When they finally reached their destination, Urbosa gestured for them to scramble, an unspoken order which they quickly complied with, whispering among themselves about what was going on. From the frown on the Gerudo champion’s face and the proudly held up high head of the Rito champion, they figured the two of them might not be the safest to be around and thus they retreated to hallways disconnected from that courtyard.

“Go ahead, take your position,” Urbosa said as she claimed the side of the improvised arena they had entered through.

Revali walked right to the opposite end, readying his bow in his wings and gracefully turning around, doing a dramatic swing with his wing as if he was about to give a performance. Much to his dismay, however, when he turned Urbosa immediately went into the offensive, spinning towards him as if performing a dance, sparks flying all around herself.. Revali couldn’t quite react in time with his gale, taking the first hit of Urbosa’s weapon which sent him flying backwards into one of the pillars that framed the courtyard.

Swiftly afterwards, Revali summoned an updraft and tossed his bow into his talons.That was very much a needed wake-up call for him. Though he wanted to congratulate Urbosa on her fighting skills, he had other priorities in his mind. Besides, he still needed to evaluate her abilities more thoroughly. With that, he began his barrage of arrows. Slicing, redirecting or even just dodging, Urbosa had a whole arsenal of techniques for avoiding a hit.

The dodges were the most problematic, as well timed jumps against the pillars allowed Urbosa to fling herself into the air and get close to Revali. With great agility, the Rito warrior managed to narrowly dodge many of her moves but she still got to get uncomfortably close to connecting. In this environment, forcing him into a dance-like rhythm and acrobatics which she was clearly so much more used to, Revali found it a struggle to get in position to nock his arrows and fire.

He was making progress, though. Even if figuring out this fighting style forced him to recall maneuvers he had rarely had to use as part of the Rito Sky Patrol, it was in a way very familiar to him. This was the kind of challenge only another Rito could have provided him, impressive for a wingless creature. Though most of his arrows ended up not hitting Urbosa, he could at least take pride in the few hits that did manage to land.

As Revali hit his last regular arrow, he reached into his quiver for his trump card, such a shame but at the same time such a relief. Urbosa had certainly far exceeded his expectations and proven herself, but there was no way Revali would just accept being bested. Nocking his last bomb arrows into his bowstring, he pulled back and fired what he thought would be the finishing blow and…

With an impressive jump, Urbosa managed to position herself above Revali and with a snap of her fingers she revealed her own trump card. Lightning hit Revali hard, knocking him from the air immediately. The bomb arrows went off just behind Urbosa, leaving her unharmed as she took advantage of the scenery to pose right in front of it. Such a shame there was no one else to witness it.

With the dust settled on the battlefield, she walked up to Revali, scimitar still in hand. She pointed it at his chest just like in that hallway. An admission of defeat would be expecting a bit much, that much she knew, but at least she would’ve humbled him a fair bit. Of course she wouldn’t kill him, that would endanger the mission, but for the sake of the theatrics it didn’t hurt to at least let him believe the threat.

“Well, well, well,” Revali managed to say as he lifted up his neck, reluctant to sit up due to the blade on his chest. His fluffed feathers from the electricity still showed some residual sparks. “It seems like you weren’t preening yourself for nothing, Lady Urbosa. Consider my statement retracted and my respect for you earned. Now if you’d humor this insolent warrior just for a second, would you train with me from here on out?”

The admission of guilt, the apology, the way his voice had shifted from his usual sarcastic tone to a more genuine one, it all hit Urbosa by complete surprise. The surprise was so much, the gerudo chief couldn’t help but give one of her signature hearty laughs as she put her Scimitar back on its sheath. “You’re certainly a force to be reckoned with yourself, Revali. This is far from the reaction I expected from a voe like you, but I can’t complain about you keeping your word, now can I?.”

Urbosa then extended a hand to the Rito, helping him stand up as he dusted himself off. The two walked back to the hallway they had come from, the conversation turning to the fight: how Revali could’ve done better, what kind of maneuvers would be effective against Urbosa’s fight dancing, what it took to do that move with the electricity. As they proceeded through the hallway, they heard Princess Zelda’s footsteps echoing ever louder. Having just heard the commotion outside, Mipha’s tailoring had been put on hold. “Urbosa! Revali!” she shouted upon seeing them, rushing to meet them. “What happened here?! I heard an explosion and thunder and I came rushing in! Revali, did you get hurt? You’re not usually this disheveled, something terrible must have...”

As the princess found more and more signs of their battle, her tone grew ever more alarmed. Revali simply rolled his eyes at it. How is such a sheltered royal that frets at such minor signs of combat going to lead them into battle? Urbosa instead just gave another of her hearty laughs as she explained how their little argument had escalated. Revali got at least a couple of compliments in her whole explanation, not that it calmed down the princess any more (quite the opposite) but did manage to make the Rito warrior hold his head up in pride.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my Tumblr ramblings on Revali that I've had recently: https://jaceladag.tumblr.com/post/638245203799638017/am-i-the-only-one-who-feels-revali-initially . I'm really glad to be making my fanfiction debut after years of practice writing fiction with original characters and settings. Yeah, I know, super lame stuff. My beta reader told me that I did rather well about getting the characterization of characters I didn't create myself down, so that's my biggest hold up in finally giving in to writing fanfic covered, I guess.


End file.
